Mice in the Car and My New School Year Goal

Well, friends, another school year has begun. Mine has been, let’s just say, eventful. But I believe that my feeble brain has conceived yet another teaching analogy inspired by an unrelated part of my life. Here it goes.

So I’m getting Mason in his car seat, trying to get a move on to attend day #5 of professional inservices when I see them: mouse poopies. In my car. On Mason’s seat, in my cup holders, on the dashboard, everywhere. Do I have time to clean them out? Of course not. So I cringe, wipe them off of Mason’s seat, strap him in, and call my husband crying on the way to work. Got home, vacuumed the car, Clorox wiped everything possible, and yet, later that night, more poopies.

Luckily, my husband is not cheap when it comes to things such as this. He got the pricey traps. You know, the “no see, no touch” kind that are little pods which lure the dastardly creatures in and kill instantly? Lo and behold, the little beast was no longer living the next morning. He had a hasty funeral that ended in the garbage can.

So here’s my analogy between the little crapper who lived in my car and teaching. No, readers, I will not be referring to my students as “little crappers”. Rather, I compare the unwelcome mouse to those unexpected things that come up in the classroom on a daily basis: random farting noises spread by giggling 8th grade boys who know better, a frantic secretary who calls looking for a missing student, the fourteenth message over the PA system in the last hour, the comment “but we did this last year” from students upon receiving an assignment, etc.

Are these things frustrating? ABSOLUTELY! You’re trying so hard to keep students focused and give them the best opportunity to succeed in life through the skills they learn in your class, yet your efforts are thwarted at every turn. But what I learned from the little mousie who thought he could conquer my car is that you can either complain about it or do something about it. You can either become frustrated at your noisemaking students or you can make every effort to show them how to behave in a classroom and why it’s an important lesson to learn. You can either become frustrated about the calls you get or understand the importance of having secretaries so you don’t have to do all of this. You can take your students’ complaining about already having done an activity and use it as an opportunity to teach them the value of rereading.

My goal this school year, besides the always-present goal of being SuperMom, is to take these inconveniences and DO something about them. I spend a lot of time whining and complaining about things, but I don’t have time to do that anymore. I HAVE to be efficient with my time and find solutions to my problems that make whatever curse I face into a blessing.

That is my rant for today. It is time to make cookies, exercise, and shower in the next 45 minutes. Can I do it? YES I CAN! Bless your weekends!